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PAL Recreation Center

Emily Morry

Historical Researcher, City of Rochester

Though it has been home to Writers & Books for almost three decades, the brick building at 740 University Avenue, pictured here in 1952 was for many years the property of the Rochester Police Department.

Designed in 1905 by renowned Rochester architect Claude Bragdon, the edifice housed the city’s Third Precinct for the first half of the 20th century. An effort to centralize police activities and cut expenses led to the station’s closure along with three others in 1948.

The structure temporarily housed a navy detachment before becoming abandoned in early 1951. Neighborhood children adopted the building as a playground and “ghost castle.” The ensuing ballyhoo at the fun fortress resulted in 178 broken windows and severe damage to the plumbing and heating units.

Coincidentally, the next organization to occupy the building had been founded to curb such errant youth behavior.

Like many cities across the country, Rochester witnessed an increase in juvenile delinquency cases in the immediate post-war years. The Police Athletic League, established in 1947, sought to address the problem by providing young people with organized recreational activities.

A preventive, rather than a corrective agency, PAL strove to keep susceptible children off the streets and steer them from immoral influences. Initially based out of City Hall, the club opened its new University Avenue headquarters after extensive renovations to the building were completed in October 1952.

Visitors to the center found the former jail cell gutted out and converted into a boxing ring. Additional rooms were outfitted according to specific themes.

While the game room — which included billiards tables and a rainbow-colored jukebox loaded with rock ‘n’ roll singles — was designed with fun in mind, most spaces in the building were devised with the twin aims of entertaining and educating.

The rooms also reflected the traditional gender roles characteristic of the 1950s.

In the “outdoor room” on the third floor, boys learned wilderness skills in a camp-like setting complete with a stone fireplace. Less adventurous lads could opt for tool time in the basement’s craft shop.

Female members of PAL congregated in spaces intended to develop their domesticity. In addition to a kitchen, a sewing room and a living room where girls were schooled in the art of entertaining, the edifice also featured a makeshift hospital room where members learned how to tend to infant siblings and ailing parents. During downtime, girls took delight in the elaborate doll room furnished by B. Forman and Co.

Beyond the many daily activities the organization offered at this bustling University Avenue locale, PAL also co-sponsored a number of sports leagues, administered an annual summer camp and ran a dry nightclub in Edgerton Park called the Stardust Room.

In the end, the Police Athletic League’s immense success led to its demise. The City of Rochester’s Department of Recreation absorbed the rapidly expanding program in 1958, giving the officers formerly assigned to PAL more time for conventional police work.

Fittingly, the erstwhile PAL property remained a recreation center for several years. It later went on to house an art workshop and a video recording equipment shop before becoming home to local cultural institution Writers & Books in 1985.